Gregory House regularly takes Vicodin for his chronic leg pain in House M.D.
Vicodin is a prescription combination of hydrocodone and paracetamol, also called acetaminophen. In the series, House uses it to manage severe pain caused by the infarction of muscle in his right thigh.
His reliance on the drug becomes a major story element rather than a minor character detail. House’s colleagues worry about dependence, and several plots examine how addiction affects his judgment, relationships, and ability to practice medicine.
House’s medication is sometimes misidentified as oxycodone because both drugs are opioid painkillers. However, Vicodin is the specific brand repeatedly associated with the character. The show uses the drug to connect House’s physical disability with his emotional defensiveness.